The present invention relates to safety devices for automobiles and, more particularly, to visual indicators of emergency braking of a vehicle.
Every year people are killed and injured in automobile accidents. In the United States alone, 43,900 people are were killed in 1995 and 6,025,000 people were injured according to the Insurance Institute. Economic loss totaled $115,625,000.
Many accidents result when vehicles are traveling in the same direction and the "following" vehicle crashes into the "lead" vehicle. The driver in a following vehicle often does not realize the lead vehicle is stopping quickly. The driver in the following vehicle fails to respond in enough time to avoid a rear-end collision.
If the lead vehicle were equipped with a device that indicated very rapid deceleration, the driver in the following vehicle would have the maximum warning and many accidents could be averted.
The present invention relates to a deceleration warning device for vehicles. Although deceleration warning devices have been disclosed in the past, the prior devices suffer limitations which have prevented widespread use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,141 discloses an emergency deceleration warning device comprising an enclosed decelerometer for enabling a flasher-operating circuit. The device is mounted in the auxiliary brake light position of an automobile. Such a unit requires the installation of wiring to obtain power and brake light indication when installed as a retrofit in an existing automobile. Locating the device in the vicinity of the rear window would require special mounting considerations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,333 discloses an urgent braking device which incorporates a power modulating means connected in parallel with an inertial switch. The switch opens when the vehicle is decelerating in excess of a predetermined rate, activating the power modulating means and flashing the brake lights. The device requires wiring modification of the vehicle in order to install as a retrofit in an existing automobile. The device also requires attaching to a structure of the vehicle.
These and other devices disclosed to warn following vehicles of an emergency braking action require various degrees of wiring and/or structural modification in order to install the units as a retrofit to existing vehicles. Time and costs of installing the devices may be prohibitive.